Heatbed temps

Has anyone got there heatbed Mk3 or other upto 180 c?Has anyone tested using insulation? If so what type and what were the results? My Mk3 will reach a maximum temp of 109 c from ambient 22c in about 30 mins running on a dedicated 24 v 10 amp supply with no insulation. I want it to get hotter and faster if possible. I am going to experiment with 2mm cork under the bed but wondered if there might be anything better such asp this, electric underfloor heating xps insulation for electric heaters 6mm on eBay.

Adding insulation isn't going to make it get hotter/faster. You need to increase the applied voltage. The power supply may have a trim pot that allows you to do so. If not, start looking for a new power supply that does. All you need are a few more volts, but make sure you don't exceed the power rating of the power supply. If it's good for 24V 10A and you crank it to 28V, it will only be good for 8.5A.

What material requires 180C on the print bed? Are you printing cookies?

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

probably several peltiers would do the trick

I meant get it to a specific temperature faster. If I added insulation would that happen? The main reason I wanted to do this was to test the sticking of a cube printed at different temperatures in abs and would therefore like a bed which would get me to say 140-150 c. I guess peltier s could be an option if required. I'll have to look into that thanks for the idea.

Adding insulation will only get you so far- the insulation helps prevent heat loss to the surrounding air. If you want it to heat up quickly, and you want to be able to regulate the temperature, the best way to make it happen is to apply more power. That means more voltage which in turn drives more current through the heater to get converted to heat. If the heater is struggling to get to the target temperature the PID controller will have a hard time maintaining it.

Peltier devices may work, but there's a cost and time/effort associated with taking the bed apart and mounting the devices and wiring all of it. It would be much easier to use a higher voltage power supply that uses the existing heater and wiring without any extra work. Only you can decide if the experiment you're conducting is worth the cost of a new power supply.

If you're having problems getting ABS prints to stick to the bed, I can offer some suggestions. ABS doesn't like to stick to plain glass. Kapton, PEI, or PET all seem to work fine. Start by cleaning the bed surface at room temperature. Wipe it with acetone on a clean cloth or paper towel. Never use finger nail polish remover which, in addition to acetone, usually contains glycerin and other greasy crud that will prevent prints from sticking. Next, heat up the bed and extruder to print temperature (bed about 105C or so, extruder 235C or so), then level and zero the bed. This has to be done while hot because the bed usually rises in the center when heated and the nozzle usually has a little plastic protruding from it and you need that plastic to be soft when you zero the bed. Print with a thickish first layer- if you have a 0.4mm nozzle, print with a 0.28-0.32 mm first layer, print slow- try 20mm/sec. When the solid fill is done on the first layer, you should see the lines just touching each other and the top surface should be pretty smooth. If it looks rough you're over extruding and/or the nozzle is too close to the bed. If there are gaps between the lines, you're under extruding or you've got the nozzle set too high above the bed. If the plastic isn't sticking, the nozzle may be too high off the bed.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

You won't get a Mk3 up to 180C unless you power it with substantially more voltage than it is designed for, and then you would probably wreck it. Insulating under the bed will allow it heat to heat up a little faster and reach a higher temperature, although not a lot higher. Putting an insulating blanket on top of the bed while it is heating up will speed up heating and increase the temperature - until you remove the blanket.

My delta printer has a 330mm diameter bed made from 5mm aluminium plate. Attached to the underside of the aluminium is a 230V 350W silicone heater. Underneath that is 7mm cork sheet topped with aluminium foil. It heats to 110C in under 5 minutes, and it tops out at about 185C without any insulation on top - below the 200C temperature limit of the silicone heater. If I were building it again, I would probably choose a little less heater power.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2015 10:44AM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

180C is ridiculously hot. If you're going for adhesion, ~120C is the hottest you'll want to go. At 180C, I don't think normal materials (ABS, PLA, etc) will even be solid. What are you using this for? PEEK?

If you really do need that high of temperature, you won't be able to use a PCB heater. You'll want something like a kapton heater or silicone heater. These seem to top out around 200C.